Seasonal dependence of cadmium molecular effects on Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819) protamine‐like protein properties

Abstract

Mussels have a seasonal reproduction and cadmium is a common stressor in estuarine and coastal environments. In previous studies, we have shown that exposure to subtoxic doses of cadmium produced alterations in the properties of winter Mytilus galloprovincialis sperm protamine-like (PL) proteins. In this study, it was analyzed the possibility that these cadmium effects may be seasonal. Winter and summer mussels were exposed to CdCl 2 , and it was tested the PL-proteins for cadmium bioaccumulation, electrophoretic pattern, DNA binding, and potentiality to induce DNA oxidative damage. It was found that cadmium exposure did not produce the same effects on PLproteins of summer mussels that were produced on PL-proteins of winter mussels, that is: cadmium bioaccumulation, alterations in the acetic acid-urea polyacrylamide gels (AU-PAGE) and sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE pattern, a reduced DNA binding affinity and the ability to induce DNA oxidative damage. PL-proteins from summer mussels, apart from not being affected by all the abovementioned effects of cadmium, also showed a very low DNA binding affinity, independent of cadmium exposure. This study reveals clock-associated seasonal responses to cadmium in M. galloprovincialis.Understanding the mechanisms through which environmental signals guide biological rhythms is fundamental to understanding the seasonal sensitivity of this bioindicator, to use M. galloprovincialis in appropriate seasonal periods. K E Y W O R D S cadmium, Mytilus galloprovincialis, protamine-like proteins, reproduction, seasonality

Biological Responses to Cadmium Stress in Liverwort Conocephalum conicum (Marchantiales)

“…Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic non-essential transition metal; the third main environmental contaminant of most hazards after mercury and lead. This metal poses a health risk for both humans and animals already at very low concentrations (0.5 µM) [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ], while for plants there is usually a wider range of concentrations (from 5 to 5000 µM) that are generally not phytotoxic to the plants [ 6 , 7 ]. Cd can negatively affect plant growth, and its toxic effects can be found at both morphological and physiological levels [ 8 ].…”

Antioxidative Defense and Fertility Rate in the Assessment of Reprotoxicity Risk Posed by Global Warming

“…It is now well known that, in the coming decades, the loss of biodiversity will have a dramatic impact on the life cycles of organisms [1][2][3]. Anthropogenic human activities and xenobiotics released into the environment such as metals, pesticides, herbicides, drugs, antifouling compounds, nanoparticles, and plastics directly influence migration, seasonal breeding, and reproduction [4][5][6]. These factors also have secondary deleterious effects contributing to climate change, as evidenced in global warming and ocean acidification, raising an alarm in the scientific community and government environmental agencies about reprotoxicity [7,8].…”

Molecular Alterations in Spermatozoa of a Family Case Living in the Land of Fires—A First Look at Possible Transgenerational Effects of Pollutants

“…In particular, in these latter proteins, some heavy metals can reverse their canonical protective rule, making them able to participate in DNA breakage [ 11 , 34 , 36 , 37 ]. In addition, our studies also indicated that in organisms exposed to environments polluted by heavy metals, we found accumulation of some of these metals in gonadal tissues, semen and SNBP [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. As a matter of fact, in the semen of the father and son, we found different excesses of copper and chromium, two heavy metals involved in the Fenton reaction [ 40 ].…”

“…The binding between histones and chromium happens through lysine residues [ 46 , 47 ] and could cause DNA damage in a similar manner as hypothesized for copper, since the toxic effect of this metal results in radical-mediated DNA strand breakage and the formation of stable chromium–DNA complexes, together with chromium–DNA adducts and protein–chromium–DNA and DNA–chromium–DNA cross-links [ 48 , 49 ]. The unstable DNA bond observed only for son SNBP could be due to the excess of copper, which can also determine conformational change in these proteins, as already demonstrated for protamine-like of mussels exposed to this metal [ 37 , 39 ]. Moreover, the presence of nCP/Hr ratio could also produce a competition between these two types of proteins for DNA binding.…”

“…pGEM3 plasmid DNA breakage in the presence of SNBP extracted from the father, son and control and 30μM H 2 O 2 was analyzed on 1% agarose gel in TBE 1X final concentration. The preparation of the samples was performed as described by Piscopo 2019 [ 39 ]. In brief, into any samples we put ultrapure water (milliQ), plasmid DNA pGEM3 (a fixed amount of 150 ng) and SNBP extracted from the father, son or control in increasing w / w protein/DNA ratios in a range from 0.2 to 2.…”